funny. i'm sorry. you hear this next one repeated many times. it came from ronald reagan during his debate with jimmy carter. reagan posed a simple question. >> are you better off than you were four years ago? >> four years later president reagan was 73 facing concerns about his age, an issue compounded by his shaky first debate and then turned the weakness into a strength with this line. >> i want you to know that also i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> bill clinton was on the other side of that equation while debating another 73 year old. this one was former senator bob dole. clinton handled the issue this way. >> i don't think senator bill is too old to be president. it's the age of his ideas that i question. >> so we'll have to wait and see if there is a memorable moment tonight that can shape the final month of the race. sometimes it is a one liner. sometimes it is a facial expression. >>> white house soup of the day. that is good soup. i wish i were eating it today. coconut sh

back to point. the way ronald reagan did in his debate against jimmy carter. people don't remember all the facts and figures, the recitation of the facts and figures, they remember a significant line or a significant phrase that brings them back to reality. >> senator john mccain is the only man who has debated both of these individuals. he weighed in on the expectations this morning. take a listen. >> serve and provide us -- >> it's not just that they go bankrupt, he doesn't understand -- >> comments that grabbed everybody's attention. because frankly, the candidates are too well prepared. they're well scripted. >> what you did not hear the beginning there, is the senator said i think you're going to see more viewers, than any debate in history. and then he also said he can't remember the last time that any of these things affected the outcome of a presidential race. save 1960 and 2000, have the debates ever really impacted the outcome of a race, chris kofinis? >> it's funny, i hear the debate about debates not necessarily mattering. and i actually disagree with that i think the 1

carter debate with ronald reagan where he said there you go again, calling the sitting president a liar basically. that's when carter started collapsing. you've got a few moments to make the one-liners catch and stick. all of the substance will get lost in the minutia. romney needs one worse than the president right now. >> instead of o owe is it like trying to figure out what the zinger is going to be that will get retweeted on a hash tag? >> yes, that it is. >> it makes me so sad. >> well, yes. as you said, the stakes are higher for mitt romney. keep this mind, this is a man who has been running for president for six years. >> right. >> it's come down to this one moment, this first debate on wednesday where he's got to change the trajectory of his campaign, of the narrative with at that point, what is it 35 days in the race. >>> yeah. >> you're the political scientist here. you're the nerd here at the table. just to my mind, i do not see how practically speaking mitt romney can change the trajectory and move his campaign into a positive position with so little time. >> you're a big ne

and when did it happen? >> ronald reagan. >> you got it. >> ronald reagan, 1980. >> '84. >> that's right. i think you both get a sticker for that one. ronald reagan in 1984 and obviously, he was at the time 73. he was running against mondale who was 56. cleaned mondale's clock. age was not used against reagan. >>> parker is back. >> nothing but a number. >> nothing but a number. parker is back for the second one. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> jamaal. >> lloyd benson in the vice presidential debate and you remembered it was lloyd benson. good job. >> nerdland for a reason. >> what state, jamaal? >> he was from texas. >> does anybody remember what dan quayle said in response? >> he said that's uncalled for. >> that's exactly it. >> crawl under the podium. >> after the laughing subsided in the crowd. >> that was a pretty good one. >> i think that's my best. >> he's being polite. he's not hitting his bell until she is through. >> here's the next parker video. >> george bush taking credit for the berlin wall coming down is

. but mitt romney can hold on to, though, is that president's john kennedy, ronald reagan, and george w. bush are all tied or behind, scott, and they pulled it out in the end. >> pelley: john, thanks very much. >> pelley: as in politics, things can change pretty quickly in sports. the nfl and its referees seemed ready to dig in for a long fight over pay and pension but that was before the uproar over that terrible call in the monday night game. now it appears the lockout may soon be over and jeff glor has the latest. jeff. >> reporter: scott, not done yet but much closer to tonight. we're told both sides have made major concessions and there might be a final deal in place by the end of tonight. it was the blown call that apparently paved the way for the breakthrough. monday night's mess, when a replacement official called the disputed play for seattle seahawks, giving them an end of time win over the green bay packers, triggered a new flurry of negotiating between the nfl and its regular referees. now, three weeks of increasingly sloppy officiating handled by referees that were ernest b

reagan, people forget, before the debate, ronald reagan was painted as this looney, right-wing fanatic that would start world war iii, dr. strangelove, and it was the debate that stuck a needle in that balloon. >> i remember it well. >> not even born yet. i mean, this is romney's chance. >> sure. >> to connect with the american people. >> to pick up on mike's point, fascinating number from the poll is this. 51% of people who said they had heard or read something about romney in the last couple weeks said what they had heard or read made them think more negatively about him. more positively, that number was 48%. they've heard him going into this debate. this provides them a chance to say, listen, that guy you saw in the video, that's not me. i'm a different type of person. he can reset in that sense. i'm sort of with al on this. i spent a lot of time over the past week watching all of romney's debates from 2002. i watched every single debate. there were five of them. i read hundreds of clips in 2002. he was against a democrat. >> you really should get a life. >> i know, it's pathetic. >

people who given the possibility of what we saw in 1984 with ronald reagan and in 1980 with ronald reagan and jimmy carter where there really was a mood change. >> sure, but let's also remember that as john made reference to john kerry in 2004, he moved the needle, but he didn't move the needle nearly far enough. and the fact is that in 18 of the last 19 presidential elections whosever been leading at this point has led the popular vote. >> you remember how close kerry came, if he had won a small number in ohio, he would have been president. >> i understand that. >> and also if he had gnat gone windsurfing in nantucket. willie, the thing is, we talk about the 47% video, i'm hearing more and more people in the romney campaign as every day goes by, they understand more and more that they made a huge mistake with that libyan press conference. i'm not going to say that it was sort of that september 15th moment, the economy is sound, but john mccain last time, but i can't tell you how many pollsters are telling me that that was -- it made him look unpresidential. "the wall street journa

time. i talked about tip o'neill and ronald reagan of the 1980s. didn't see eye to eye. they got things done. '90s you and bill clinton. a fascinating character. you guys obviously didn't see eye to eye. you got things done. and bill clinton is having a huge impact in this race. rich lowry of course of the national review said if you want to see when this election turned it was in the middle of bill clinton's speech. this guy still -- you said something about georgia ads. what was that? >> i was told last night by randy evans who is the national committeeman from georgia that there are more ads in georgia for obama with clinton in them than there are with obama in them. which makes sense. you know, bill clinton is the best political figure in terms of skill since ronald reagan. >> right. >> that's just a fact. >> right. >> and his ability to communicate, i thought his speech, which i had to watch, i actually didn't watch the obama speech. >> right. >> i watched the clinton speech. i thought it would be more creative, more interesting. and it turned out to be a lot more important.

rhino in this republican party. the irony doting on the ghost of ronald reagan is he could not have survived in the current iteration of the republican party. ronald reagan said no to war with the soviet union. ronald reagan actually said yes to reducing the number of nuclear weapons in both sides arsenal's. ronald reagan was a figure almost more comfortable in barack obama's democratic party and his wing -- >> don't say that too loudly. >> check your twitter feed. >> just exploded. >> we have to take a break but we are waiting for the president to speak at the clinton global initiative. meanwhile, president obama and governor romney also spoke at nbc's education nation summit. big times. we will discuss their remarks. also paul ryan weighs in on the last night's nfl controversy and brings it back to, guess who, president obama. all of that is next on "now." want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions.

overscripted. that is what happened to ronald reagan in 1984 debate with walter mondale. it overran the persona of ronald reagan. next debate he was much more relaxed. roger ails did a great job preparing him and did much better job. same thing with governor romney. he has to know how to answer the questions but he has to be relaxed and rely on himself. one of the things i tell candidates it's very important that they have the good political judgment to make decisions and think on their feet rather than rely on script. >> give me one thing that you think we ought to look for out of mitt romney and one thing out of obama in this debate coming up on wednesday. >>> i think one of the -- apart from the economy, i do think one thing we should be looking for is to see if the president is willing to talk about his record on the economy and defend it. the american people ought to be making a judgment whether or not the president can defend that record. he ought to be looking for governor romney how well he press the case against the president. it's been his failure to lead on the economy that h

became. the big issue, big change began in 198 1980 that goes with the election of ronald reagan ronald reagan brought with them to washington a very underrated figure in a recent american history, somehow i don't think gets his due as an important person. that's edwin meese because edwin meese at first was in flash and then attorney general. said look, there has been a liberal agenda at the supreme court. there needs to be a conservative agenda at the supreme court. what was that agenda? expand executive power and end racial preferences, speed up execution, welcome religion into the public sphere, and above all, reverse roe v. wade and allow states once again to ban abortion. a big part of the reagan revolution was the arrival of washington of a group of young and committed conservative lawyers who wanted to work in that, on behalf of that agenda, who were two of the best and the brightest of that group? john roberts and samuel alito. 1970 -- in 1985, a memo at the solicitor general's office, alito wrote what can be made of this opportunity to advance the goal of bringing about the eve

looking for? ronald reagan, can he stand on the stage with president carter? will he seem presidential? we sometimes forget that president obama is the president. he'll be sharing that space. in many ways, that's the biggest and first calculation that people make. they will say, could he, governor romney, that is, have that role or not. >> and does he belong on that stage in the first place and then does he look presidential? and you're right, because ronald reagan was an actor in many people's minds, even though he was governor of california. and then they were stunned when he walked on that stage and said, i agree with most of reagan's policies but he seemed presidential. >> right. and he didn't stumble and then he was calm. he felt -- he felt like he deserved to be there. i think one of the things that governor romney has to do is not only share that he deserves to be there but that he has some substan, more than people realize. >> substantial and national review reports that romney's team thinks it's critical that romney endure himself to the american people in this de

ronald reagan and i knew ronald reagan. i mean, you know, it's absolutely crazy. today we're going to have an nfl football game. can you imagine the opposing team giving the other team the playbook? i mean, he doesn't have that many plays in the book to begin with and now here your advisers are, in essence, giving the obama administration -- giving the obama debate team the play that they are going to run as if this president isn't going to be prepared to counter anything. i don't know what kind of campaign they are running and the last thing i would do is publicize my strategy in the first debate. >> i think you're right. >> the only thing i think more alarming about publishing your strategy before the debate is that they are going at what has been a weak point of mr. romney. i mean, just this week he's had to defend himself against accusation that he's been fast and loose with facts. look at this. >> we've been absolutely spot on and any time there's been anything amiss, we correct it or remove it. >> so the fact that the media has called him on things that seem to be full of falseh

. >> government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. ronald reagan's perspective has dominated republicans' thoughts on this matter for years. >> we have a different approach, the president and i, between a government-dominated society and a society driven by free people pursuing their dreams. >> reporter: romney insists the federal government should be smaller and less intrusive in terms of regulations and taxes and largely it should keep out of the free market. >> i line up with a smaller government, a less intrusive government, regulations being pared back. >> such views on both sides of course can make a difference. but here is the catch. for the past century, with a few exceptions, the government has been expanding no matter which party has held the white house. more cabinet positions, more agencies, more spending per citizen and much of that is driven by things like we menged at the start. population growth, economic trends and entitlements, meaning the question is probably not whether the government will keep growing under mr. obama or mr. romney, but rather ho

for the campaign's troubles. the press didn't treat ronald reagan and george w. bush any less unfairly, and both men managed not onlyo win the presencyutge re-elected. mr. romney would do better to focus more on reducing his unforcedrrors and less on the fourth estate's political bias. ifhining about the liberal media was a winning strategy for republicans, newtingrich wou be t mi" well, and newt gingrich is a great example -- i don't mean to go back there -- a great example of the problem we're talking about here. because -- >> no. >> -- no, instead of stepping forward and separating himself from this candidate, he somehow, becausof his party -- at distraction.. >> it is. >> i'm talking about the presidential race. we're one week out from the first presidential debate, and we have brand-new polling out this morning from three separate swing states that show this race is slipping away. >> and they're the big e. andhey' tigth mika. >> yes, they are. are you ready? >> i'm ready for you to talk about the presidential race. >> zip it. according to the latest quinnipiac university/

behind, as it shifts further and further, leaving a legacy of barry goldwater and ronald reagan behind. democrats, pay attention. this is your chance to build a party back up to that grand coalition of the new deal and new frontier years. why on earth wouldn't you? >>> that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. >>> good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 41 days until the 2012 election and only seven days until the first presidential debate. mitt romney is telling nbc news, the race is tied. really? well, tonight we'll reintroduce the romney campaign to the concept of arithmetic. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. >> president obama and i both care about poor and middle class families. the difference is, my policies will make things better for them. >> mitt romney is still trying to clean up his 47% problem and america isn't buying it.

how bad the government is. i voted for ronald reagan in 1980. i do have a disclaimer. i was drunk that day. but he made -- you know, ronald reagan, one thing he did was he made people distrust their government. and really a lot of people hate their government. because of -- >> now, mud cat, let me ask you a question. let me ask you a question. i didn't want to cut you off. but i have to get to you because i don't want to run out of time on you and steve. i've been waiting all day because i knew you were coming on. i've looked at the polls and i understand group after group the president's establishing a commanding lead. latinos up 45 points. he leads women by 19 points. catholics by 15 points. all of them i could understand given the policy positions of this campaign. but here's one that is right down your alley to explain to me. romney is losing the nascar base, the nascar base. obama leads romney 49-42 among nascar enthusiasts, according to the new zogby poll. can you explain that? >> because thurston howell doesn't drive a car. it's that simple. nascar is a down home sport. eli

only that we turn down our thermostats a tad and guzzle a bit less gas. then came ronald reagan who's man great contributions to america were coupled with less great ones, including idea, which has dominate ourd political discourse ever since, that we should speak only of morning in mark and that optimism, like virtue, is its own rewar. it isn't, not if it's crowds out realism. >> let's not read the whole article. you talked to erskine bowles? >> about this? >> i'm saying we talked to him. you talked to erskine bowles, bill clinton's former chief of staff who's in the debt commission. he's scared. he's scared to death. >> about the things we can't say. >> about the fiscal cliff. what we can't say about taxes, what we can't say about cutting the taxes, what we can't say about medicate. >> you can't tell voters they're going to feel pain for anything. >> either side. >> we're not talked to as adults. we're talked to as children, which is our own fault because that's what we've shown here. when you listen to both candidates, it's leak a contest to say you'll less pain under me, you'll fe

, and mitt romney is no ronald reagan or bill clinton. >> when you he an incumbent president with 8% unemployment, it's very difficult to win. romney has proven to be the worst candidate we've seen in perhaps 30, 40 years. i go back to steve's memory now when we get into 50, 60, 70 years. i agree with what's said including your points about mccain. if romney ran in '08 as he is now, obviously he did run in '08 and it didn't work out with him. one day we blame romney, and we've seen a lot of blame for romney throughout the campaign. one day blaming the polling and liberal media. i think that's a stretch. when do we look at the ideology and the difficult sell that is for the american people. when you have a party where the conventional wisdom is that this is a party that is here for the rich to serve the rich and the corporations, that's a very difficult sell. i don't know that chris christie, regular guy, could sell that better. i don't know if rick santorum can sell that better than what we've seen already. >> well, obviously, there's 39, 38 days to go. where are we sf? 39. >> 30 st

think it's a thing that's overlooked by mft candidates. i think look at ronald reagan's joke. classic. he used it. he destroyed an issue and made himself more likable at the same time. >> do they need to go in with a strategy to be funny, because sometimes when you plan these things and you bomb, it looks even worse. >> i can tell you, i have told many jokes that have bombed in my career. i can assure you the audience gets angry, and they want their money back. i'm not giving it back. you know, you have to make it organic. you have to have some sense of comedy timing. use it at the right place. if you come out with a bunch of one-liners, it's not going to work. it has to be more organic than that, and i'm hoping these guys have the right people to work with them to tell them here migh be the right time to use a joke. >> let's take a listen and a look at how they deliver a good joke. >> sure. >> which reminds me of an old saying. what's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? a pit bull is delicious. >> wenl in dubuque, iowa. i was on one-half of the stage, and i w

update of the ronald reagan welfare mean, same racialized politics mitt romney has been playing for the last eight, ten months. this is the -- the welfare requirement, the idea the president is abolishing it, he is taking a gop prescription for reforming welfare and putting it in place, which is giving more power to the states. you know, the details of that, the fact that tons of things the president has embraced are actually rooted in conservative ideology has been a completely lost or disavowed by the republican party. i mean, they -- mitt romney has to win 60% of white voters and will stop at nothing to shore up every white vote he can. and that includes playing to the lowest card in the deck, which is incredibly racially charged, incendiary rhetoric designed to stoke hatred and fulmen, i guess, enthusiasm to get folks out to the polls. >> gene, look at this. every time i see this, i see it infrequently, i cry. i've been accused of being too emotional about politics. four years ago, john mccain stood up to a supporter who called then-senator obama an arab. here's his instantaneou

performance such as ronald reagan's in 1980. here is the truth about obama and romney, neither a stellar debater. obama didn't shine in the democratic primary debates, biden won them. that's why obama picked biden. candidate obama had a tendency to ramble in the debates, got better during mccain one on ones. while romney did well in this season's gop debates, had rough performances, bet you $10,000 he did. romney performances, the unspoken body language that the camera captured, they were brutal against ted kennedy. ivy league will enjoy biden versus ryan more. trust me. >>> turning back to the brand new battleground polls. there's a different pattern emerging, president obama is ahead in new hampshire, tighter in nevada and north carolina. joining me, director of the marist poll. good to see you in person. >> welcome to the home of the new york yankees. >> you're going to blow the playoff run. >> i am worried. >> we want the beltway series in washington. we have been looking at this as sort of the generic, the general all nine states. what is your take away? >> i think what you'

always remembers the great zingers. you know, usually something from ronald reagan, but here we go again expecting that people are going to try a little bit too hard. there's a real danger when you've been supplied with premixed, ready-made zingers to insert into the debate that mitt romney will insert them at the wrong time or say them not quite right. the only thing worse than having no zinger is having a zinger that comes off badly and comes back to bite you. so i think that's a perilous way to go, but i'll be there in denver, and i look forward to the attempts because it will make it far more interesting. >> indeed. we're delighted, ron, that you're here. you have devealed to us for the first time that you have prepped with mitt romney previously. >> i have. >> tell us a little bit about that. >> well, it was a remarkable experience. it was the 2008 campaign when he was running in the primaries. he assembled a smart group of folks to go up and run him through the paces. that was in anticipation of the first debate on msnbc mott rated by chris matthews. each person had a role, i was t

. even reagan and carter in 1980. the confidence and ease that ronald reagan projected and jimmy carter looked a little bit defensive. that's the impression that lasts. >> even al gore and george w. bush i think is a good example of body language told so much during those debates. al gore was up in the polls and had a series of very poor debate performances. >> al gore had been a very effective, aggressive debater. in the first debate, he was seen as being too aggressive. the famous sighs and all the rest. in the second debate, he was almost too laid back. by the third he had a kind of just right approach, but by that time, those performances and all the other factors in the 2011 election held him back. >> how important is humor? >> it can be very important, but it's something that has to -- i guess some humorous lines probably are prescripted. there you go again by reagan most people feel w prepared. that, of course, is the magic. >> remember what lloyd benson said about dan quayle and president kennedy. >> yes, that was the famous line, jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senato

williams voice was called a national treasure by president ronald reagan, his style was more than just easy listening, it combined his good looks with rich warm center that made him one of the most popular singers of the '50s and '60s. ♪ born free >> he was born in 1927 in wall lake, iowa. his father wanted something big for his four sons. he moved the family to the big city of des moines and taught them to sing. the williams brothers went from there to los angeles, their first big break was backing up bing crosby on "swinging on a scar." ♪ would you like to swing on a scar ♪ >>> the brothers broke up their act but andy went on to become a regular on the "tonight show" with steve allan. that led to his own show from 1962 to 1971. >> the show was very popular. when you have a really popular tv show remember wants to get on it. >> everybody including ray charles. ♪ tell your mama >> tony bennett. the beach boys. elton john. ♪ >> what is your name >> donny. >> and an act that reminded him of his own, the osmond brothers. [ applause ] >> he had a famous marriage to a french born

plan to win the debate with zingers. >> i would be tempted to go back to that wonderful by ronald reagan, there you go again. >> how much you want to bet, it doesn't work? >> $10,000 bet? >> in ohio, they are sleeping overnight at polling places. we'll go live to cleveland where nina turner is camping out for early voting. >>> and house majority leader eric cantor is fighting for his political life in his own district. wayne powell will join me live following tonight's big debate. >>> good evening, americans. good to have you with us. republicans are hoping for a game changer in the next few days, but romney's path to victory is starting to disappear. president obama is ahead in all of the vital swing states needed for victory. if the election were held today an associated press analysis shows president obama would win at least 271 electoral votes. 270 votes wins the presidency. the romney campaign is struggling, to say the least. romney's own running mate was forced to admit how their campaign has stumbled. >> so, yeah, we have had some missteps, but at the end of the day, the ch

. presidents john kennedy, ronald reagan, and george w. bush were all tied or behind, scott, and they pulled it out in the end. >> pelley: as in politics, things can change pretty quickly in sports. the nfl and its referees seemed ready to dig in for a long fight over pay and pension but that was before the uproar over that terrible call in the monday night game. now it appears the lockout may soon be over and jeff glor has the latest. jeff. >> reporter: scott, not done yet but much closer to tonight. we're told both sides have made major concessions and there might be a final deal in place by the end of tonight. it was the the blown call that apparently paved the way for the breakthrough. monday night's mess, when a replacement official called the disputed play for seattle seahawks, giving them an end of time win over the green bay packers, triggered a new flurry of negotiating between the nfl and the regular referees. now, three weeks of increasingly sloppy officiating handled by referees that were ernest but not experienced appears to be just about over. it was three weeks that fea

that ronald reagan projected and jimmy carter looked defensive. that's the impression that often lasts. >> even al gore and george w. bush is a good example of body language so much during those debates. al gore was up in the polls and had a series of very poor debate performances. >> al gore had been a very effe effective, aggressive debater. he was seen in the first debate as too aggressive. the sighs and the rest. in the second debate he was almost too laid back. by the third he had a just right approach by that time. those performances and all the other factors in the 2000 election held him back. >> humor. >> humor can be very important but it's something that has to -- some humorous lines probably are prescripted. there you go again, reagan, most people feel, was prepared. >> remember what lloyd benson said about -- >> yes. >> dan quayle. >> that famous line. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> i just reread about all the debates, they prepared that line in advance because dan quayle made that comment over and over again. bo